Hard Candy
by Mochibun
Summary: Life is never easy when you're the one known as Sasuke Uchiha, especially when you've just had your ass hauled back home, but it is particularly fun for the other parties! Mild NaruSasu, Sakura x ?, and other pairings.


**My first multi-chaptered fanfic! It's_ partially, very partially_ co-written with Lawlietluva4.**

**I'd appreciate con-crit (constructive criticism) please!**

**Warning: This is shonen-ai fanfic. If you don't like that, you can turn back now! Also. There's a crack pairing in the future, however that pairing is straight.**

**I'm aware of the way the manga is going, but I'm completely bypassing that, okay! That's all you need to know.  
**

* * *

It was twilight, and the last vestiges of sunlight rained down upon the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sky was a brilliant shade of orange, without a cloud in the sky to ruin radiance of the departing sun.

For a certain pink haired kunoichi by the name of Sakura Haruno, who was waiting by the village gates for one orange-clad, boisterous, and blond ninja, the radiant orange reminded her of who she was waiting for, and what she had to tell him when he finally arrived. In a matter of minutes, Naruto would be arriving, returning from training with the frogs at Myōbokuzan. She'd been missing the blond during his month long absence, missing his entertaining antics, and their playful banter. Sadly enough, even shortly before his departure with the toads, he'd exhibited neither of her two favorite qualities. Sakura couldn't blame him though; the death of Jiraiya, his teacher, and father figure had taken a lot out of the blond… his depression was warranted.

She hoped though, that Naruto would be back to his old, cheerful self when he returned. Right now she could use some of his pervasive happiness, as her thoughts wondered to those of another person, the last person she would have thought she'd think of. But here he was, thrown suddenly, and somewhat mysteriously back into her, and her comrade's lives.

"Sasuke-kun," she murmured. Sasuke Uchiha, the subject of her once childish, shallow infatuation. The boy who had grown in three years, from the troubled, arrogant, however fair intentioned youth, to the young adult who was considered a powerful enemy capable of taking down one of the sannin, and consumed by thoughts of his elder brother. He had caused her and Naruto far more grief then necessary.

The conclusion that everyone had come to was that Sasuke had forsaken any thoughts of his original home in Konoha, even after finally killing his elder brother.

Under Tsunade's instructions, after having been found by civilian children, Sasuke had quite literally been dragged back to Konoha by anbu that morning, completely unawares, and unconscious, the reasons for which were still unknown. At the moment, Sakura concluded, he was most likely under the scrutiny of the Hokage at the hospital, currently undergoing a minor procedure, chakra blockage; part of his punishment. He had gotten off lucky. Most missing ninja were executed on the spot, but Tsunade was lenient, acknowledging that ultimately, Sasuke hadn't caused any harm to the village, and had in fact helped in some instances, killing off Orochimaru, and various members of Akatsuki that would've been Konoha's problem otherwise.

So, his punishment was strictly for defection of Hidden Leaf. Chakra blockage, probation, and twenty-four hour surveillance. It wasn't all that bad considering… what it could have been.

Sakura herself had yet to see Sasuke, but had been alerted early that morning by Shizune, who had been hurrying about the Hokage's office, searching vainly through her bosses' junk for the order Tsunade had written just hours before hand.

Sakura laughed a little now. Her reaction had been spectacular. She'd dropped the stack of papers she'd been bringing to Tsunade, and nearly tackled the poor assistant in her sudden quest for details, which had been given promptly, mostly because Shizune had a small phobia of things pink haired and as strong as her boss…

Following that small incident Sakura had spent the rest of the day sitting at home and thinking. Just thinking. What should be her reaction to this turn of events? Should she be happy? Upset? There just wasn't a clear answer to that question.

Sitting on her bed, she had glanced at her calendar. Purely coincidental of course, she noticed that today's date was circled in red ink. She took a double take, and glanced at the note written within the circle… "Naruto comes back today!" it said.

And so, rushing from her house, and bidding her mother farewell, Sakura found herself where she was at the moment. At the village gates, awaiting the arrival of Naruto.

* * *

Naruto was pleasantly surprised when he arrived back at the gates of Konoha. How nice of Sakura-chan, meeting him out here. He could walk her home, and he wouldn't be alone walking in the rapidly approaching darkness. How pleasant.

He approached her, but Sakura's face was looking pointedly downwards, paying no attention to her surroundings. So, doing as Naruto does best, he shoved his face right in front of hers, and awaited her reaction.

Sakura was so out of it, so lost in thought that she had yet to notice the blond, he who she had been waiting for.

"Hey Sakura-chan, anybody home? Hi!" Naruto smiled brightly, waving a hand in front of her face, " a ninja should be more aware of her surroundings!"

Naruto laughed when Sakura's head shot up, but his smile faded and was replaced with confusion at the wide-eyed, shocked expression that the girl wore plastered across her features. It was yet more confusing when the tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. _Why is Sakura-chan crying?_

"Oh! Naruto, it's you!" Sakura looked bright; ignoring the prickling of tears she could feel brimming in her eyes, " You scared me a little, you know?"

Naruto smiled again, " Oh, okay, well sorry about that then. I was excited to see you, I didn't mean to scare you…" Naruto faltered. He could see Sakura's shoulders trembling, and the tears that before were unshed, were traveling down her cheeks, but still her smile remained steadfast.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, and raised an eyebrow, " Sakura-chan, did I scare you that much? Why are you crying?"

Sakura closed the space in between them quickly, and embraced Naruto. Oh, it was nice to have someone who never resisted when she just needed a hug… and she laughed.

She laughed wetly into Naruto's chest, " I'm happy to see you, you knucklehead! Oh, today's just been pretty stressful, and it's all coming out now. I hope this is okay, Naruto?" Sakura looked up into Naruto's face to gauge his reaction.

Naruto was looking back down at the girl, his cheeks slightly flushed, while rubbing her back hesitantly, but still comforting.

Sakura sighed. Sometimes Naruto's crush got in the way during times like this…

"Oh yeah, and I'm not crying," Sakura said, smiling into his chest.

Reinstating both their comfort zones, Naruto gently moved himself away from Sakura, ending her embrace. He paused, before running his thumb across her cheek and bringing it up to her eyes.

"Then what are these Sakura-chan?" He was genuinely puzzled. It was really quite cute Sakura admitted to herself.

Sakura pouted, " I was being facetious, Naruto."

"… Oh… well, um, okay then." It was pretty obvious Naruto didn't know what the hell that meant.

" You weren't supposed to take it seriously, when it was so obvious that I wasn't making an earnest statement! Naruto, you are so clueless sometimes," she said, smiling as she moved the boy's hand away from her visage.

Sakura's tears had stopped quickly enough. The quick change from pleasant smile to serious that followed was unexpected.

"You know Naruto, I came out here to greet you, because I missed you. I also came out because I have some news for you. It's serious, and pretty important."

Naruto's face fell, " Did someone die again?" Sakura could tell when Naruto was thinking about Jiraiya, like right now, his eyes were blank; they lost their usual brightness…

"No, nobody's died. I mean, it's good news… depending on your point of view I suppose…"

Naruto's face became expectant, "Okay then, that's good, so what's the news Sakura-chan?"

Sakura stopped for a moment, before she began walking back into the village, "Let's keep walking, okay? I need to stop at the hospital, but I'll tell you while we walk. So come one."

"Do you need to finish some work at the hospital or something?"

" No Naruto, there's someone I think we should visit…"

Naruto's brows bunched together, "Sakura-chan, is someone injured? Cause that's not good news…"

"Well…" Sakura paused, "We're going to visit Sasuke-kun."

There was a tangible feeling of disbelief radiating from Naruto. Sakura could tell, the way he stared at her, his eyes wide and shocked, his mouth forming a small "oh"…. In answer to the unspoken question, Sakura nodded, " Yeah, I'm serious Naruto." She sighed, " I could hardly believe it at first either…"

If Sakura thought Naruto spoke abnormally quickly on a normal day-to-day basis, it nothing compared to the speedy speech leaving his mouth currently…

" Sasuke's… in the hospital?! He's here? In Konoha!?"

" Uh…yeah…"

" He's back? But when?! Sakura-chan! C'mon, let's go! We've gotta go see him… is he injured!? They're not gonna kill him are they?! They can't do that!"

Sakura reached for Naruto's wrist as he made to start running, " Naruto calm down! They're not doing anything to Sasuke-kun! Well I mean, not anything unjustified…. He's not going anywhere, really! In fact, he's unconscious as we speak… hey, wait!"

Naruto had wrenched his wrist away from the girl, and was already sprinting away in the general direction of the hospital… in fact, she was rapidly losing sight of the blond.

Sakura thought to herself that maybe she should've waited until they were closer to the actual building before telling Naruto, and that she should've anticipated his reaction… he had, and always would be excessively enthusiastic over anything having to do with Sasuke…

* * *

Panting, Naruto arrived at the hospital, oblivious to the calls of his name emanating from somewhere behind him, and the curious looks of onlookers consequently.

Naruto dashed through the doors, narrowly avoiding a collision with the oncoming wheelchair bound patient who shot him a nasty look as he ran by. He shouted a short apology over his shoulder to the man, but kept running full speed ahead, the complaints of various doctors and nurses passing in one ear, and leaving the other.

So, with his complete lack of hospital courtesy, Naruto kept running, and on more than one occasion startling various patients and medical workers. Shortly after his third near-collision with a wheeled gurney, Naruto stopped suddenly, feeling incredibly dumb… no, incredibly stupid. He had absolutely no idea where Sasuke was… and the hospital was a big building, the odds of finding him amidst the many chakra signatures of injured shinobi and civilians weren't in his favor….

" Naruto you idiot! What are you thinking, sprinting through the hospital! Don't you have any common courtesy?"

Naruto turned around; Sakura was quickly approaching him, albeit at a more acceptable pace…

"Naruto, you can't just bowl through the hospital like that! There are injured people here!"

"Ah, sorry Sakura-chan," he said, sheepish, "I was in a rush, heh."

" I noticed," Sakura said tartly, "but really, Sasuke-kun is probably unconscious, under anesthesia as we speak. He's not going anywhere, so you don't need to rush."

"Anesthesia?!"

"To make sure he stays unconscious. You have to admit it would be troublesome if he was to wake up while Tsunade-sama implements the blocks on Sasuke-kuns's chakra; part of his sentence, right? Even if he was already out of it when he was brought in… you have to take precautions…"

Her words faded out momentarily, thinking as she was about her former teammate's potential power that needed such cautionary action, "It's not even invasive. Just a few injections of a specific solution… it will wear off as time passes."

The sounds of the bustling institution permeated between the two of them while Naruto thought …

"I mean, what's the rush to see someone who's not even responsive?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan I would've thought you'd understand though! Just the fact that he's back, that he's **here**, **here** in Konoha is reason to rush! We've been waiting for years for this right? So I just want to see him, you know?"

Sakura sighed again, she felt like she'd been doing that a lot lately… "Yeah, I do want to see him again…" she smiled, " I stopped at the front desk you know. To ask his room number. I figure you didn't bother stopping huh? His number is one hundred ninety-three. Go on, I'll catch up with you in a second."

Naruto smiled, "Hey thanks Sakura-chan!"

"Please, go slower this time!"

And so Naruto made his way off again, counting the room number as he passed them. He was traveling _a bit_ slower.

* * *

Naruto was pouting when Sakura arrived about five minutes later, looking as if everything in the world was against him.

"Sakura-chaaaaaan! That guy-" he gestured to the black-op standing beside the doorway, " won't let me in to see what they're all doing in there!"

She glanced at the cat-masked anbu, " Oh… so he let you look in did he. What's going on?"

Naruto sucked his teeth, " Well, I couldn't see much… there were loads of doctors and nurses, I don't know why though. But get this… Kakashi's in there! Unfair, huh?"

" Uh, yeah…unfair." Man, she wanted to look through that little glass pane and see into the room. She was dying to know what was going on, and maybe get a glimpse of Sasuke if possible… she hadn't seen him in such a long time, not since… well, their meeting at Orochimaru's place.

" So, Naruto, you think he's let me have a look-see?" She said to the blond, glancing also at the anbu in her peripheral vision.

"I suppose… maybe he would."

Quite out of nowhere the anbu spoke, " I'm sorry, but 'he' doesn't appreciate being talked about as though 'he's' not right here."

The both of them stared at the anbu. " Hey, Sakura-chan doesn't his voice sound familiar?"

Underneath his mask, the man's eye twitched.

"Y-Yamato-taishou? Is that you?"

"Of course."

Naruto sputtered, "Y-Yamato! You let Kakashi in but not me? What the _hell_!"

"I'm only doing my job Naruto. I'm not permitted to allow others to enter –"

"Well then what about all the doctors? And Kakashi!"

"I can't question the Hokage's judgment. If she allows for the medical staff, and Kakashi-senpai to view the procedures that's her call."

Naruto sat down angrily on the bench beside the door, muttering to himself. " Well, it's still not fair. That old bag, I bet she'd let us in if she knew we were here," he grouched.

Sakura glanced at Yamato, " I thought you were on a mission with Sai and Anko-san?"

"I was. We arrived back shortly before he," he turned his head pointedly towards the doorway, "was found this morning."

"Oh. All right then. So… um, would it be impossible for me to look in? Just for a second, through the pane, you know?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt anybody if you did. Go ahead, just for a moment."

So Sakura did. Indeed there was a crowd of doctors and nurses compressed into the small room, all the white jackets bleeding together, individuals discernible only by the different heads of hair. They seemed to be avidly watching the procedure going on before them, Sakura could only wonder why though. She doubted it was any more special than simply watching any other patient receive injections, minus the sheer number of them Sasuke would be getting in the one sitting…

The face of one Hatake Kakashi appeared suddenly before her on the other side of the glass, his smile apparent under his mask by the exaggerated wrinkling around his one visible eye.

She jumped. Quite high actually, very comical. Her eyebrows twitched at the muffled sniggers coming from behind Yamato's mask.

"Oh shut up… I'm off duty."

Naruto made his presence known, rapping on the door. Kakashi glanced at him, before turning back around to watch proceedings again, though from the farther distance, it was obvious that Kakashi held something in his arms, something white… and something purple.

"Sheesh. Don't come out to welcome me home or anything, I don't mind," Naruto said, sitting back down on the bench, looking just slightly dejected.

Sakura was just mad because the stupid staff got in way. She couldn't see anything!

So she sat down on the bench beside Naruto to wait. There was nothing better to do anyway…

* * *

Kakashi pulled open the door, stepping out into the hallway, and was instantly bombarded with questions.

"Is Sasuke awake yet? Can we see him!"

"What're you carrying? Are those… Sasuke-kun's clothes?"

"How much longer!?"

"What're you going to do with those, Kakashi-sensei?"

"**Kakashi-sensei!**"

And he completely bypassed both of them, ignoring both of their inquiries.

"Why, how are you Tenzou? It's been a while has it not? What have you been up to?"

"Kakashi-sensei, answer!"

" Naruto, why so impudent? Can't you see Tenzou and I were having a pleasant conversation? I don't remember inviting you to join in…"

"Kakashi-sensei. I'm serious… come on, answer! Please?"

Kakashi marveled at Naruto's sophisticated use of the puppy-dog-eyes… nobody over the age of five years old was supposed to be that good…

"Come on Kakashi-sensei! Please answer? Me and Naruto, we don't know many of the details, and I for one am curious… what are you doing with Sasuke-kun's clothes?"

Kakashi mock sighed, " You two, you were so much cuter when you were twelve… but Tenzou, as I was saying-"

"**Kakashi-sensei!**"

In his head, Yamato sniggered. _They've got him wrapped around their little fingers…_

"No, Sasuke's not awake yet, sorry. From what I've heard however it should take only a matter of hours for him to come to, though you should be able to go in to the room in a matter of moments. Tsunade's finished her procedures, and once the interns leave-"

_So that's what they were… I knew average run of the mill doctors wouldn't be that interested in injections…_

"You can probably just head in."

"Ah, really? That's nice…" Sakura was feeling a little sick to her stomach. The desire to see Sasuke was so strong… yet, she was also so nervous…

"Now I just wish those coats would up and leave, so we can go in. How's he look Kakashi-sensei?"

"Older."

Naruto and Sakura stared at him blankly…_well duh._

"Hey, it's the first time I've seen him in four years, unlike you three. He looks just fine."

"He's wearing clothes, right?" Sakura was eying the bundle in Kakashi's arms. She immediately recognized the horrid purple bow, though the shirt was different then she remembered, with a zipper front rather than the long, low cut top he'd had the first time they'd seen him…

"Of course, he's wearing a hospital gown. Such a peculiar question Sakura…"

"Kakashi-sensei, give them to me."

" Naruto… I was going to take them around the hall to the launderer."

Naruto glared at the bundle in Kakashi's arms, "I'm going to burn them. If they're the only clothes he has-"

"They are."

"Then I'd rather he go naked then wear anything associated with Sound." He glared especially petulantly at the purple rope.

If anyone asked, Sakura would totally deny the (_**gorgeous**_) mental images she got from that statement…

"Do what you will," Kakashi said as he handed over the clothes, "but you're the one who's going to pay for the replacements."

"I'll do so gladly." _Hopefully Sasuke doesn't have expensive tastes…heh._

Naruto took a moment to stuff the discarded clothes into the pack he was wearing on his back. He'd rasengan them into oblivion later on…

* * *

The door clattered loudly as a dozen pairs of feet left the small room, leaving it nearly devoid of people, minus the much abused (in her humble opinion) Tsunade, who fell ungracefully into one of the visitors chairs beside the hospital bed. She was exhausted; today had been long day, stressful, and full of complaints. She was the Hokage for god's sake, people aren't supposed to question the higher ups! But no, she'd been harassed all day by various other ninja regarding her handling of the situation. Why hadn't she simply had the boy executed, as was the norm when dealing with missing ninja they'd asked. Why? She had no issues with the boy, no bond, overall he'd been harmless as far as rogue ninja went, in fact, some of his actions had benefited the hidden village, one less problem for them to handle.

Two, her apprentice, Sakura, she couldn't do that to the girl she'd grown so attached to, killing the one boy that had influenced her progress to where she was today. H

And three. Naruto. She knew that if she had even dared to broach the subject of dealing with Sasuke "the usual way," she would never be forgiven for that miss-step. Like Sakura, Sasuke was the driving force behind his improvement, and his devotion to the boy (which she'd never understand. Even when they were kids the Uchiha had been an arrogant little brat, who'd constantly belittled Naruto) had never yielded to the bleakness of the situation. Sasuke had never been a lost cause in his eyes.

But was it responsible to have made such a quick decision based off her emotions? Naruto would probably think so. But Naruto made decisions based on gut feeling and emotions all the time, and they had gotten him into some pretty shitty situations.

Sakura would be overjoyed, though she'd be the more conservative of the two. She was the one who'd doubted Sasuke at times, and while she wouldn't question any of Tsunade's ideas…well, Tsunade figured Sakura was pretty unpredictable anyways.

* * *

Sakura was the first to poke her head in through the open door Tsunade noted. Then Naruto bustled by her, moving intently towards the bed centered in the room, where the pale dark-haired boy lay, asleep (for the most part), with his arms covered in small bandages. Sakura scuttled over soon after. Tsunade watched them intently from her seat; they weren't doing much really, just looking at him intently. Staring actually.

Soon Kakashi, and Yamato, who had discarded his anbu mask, followed them into the room. It was beginning to get crowded again…

"You guys will need to give him an hour of two to wake up," Tsunade said, stretching languidly, "I used a fairly heavy sedative to keep him unconscious for the duration of the procedure."

"Hm. I'm sure they'll wait patiently." Kakashi gestured at the two teens… Naruto looked pretty intense, like he was set to stand there in that one place until the other boy would awake, and Sakura who looked mostly the same…

"Do they both know the disciplinary actions being taken against Sasuke?" Tsunade asked the masked male.

"Sakura has told Naruto most likely, though it's a safe bet it probably went through one ear and out the other in his case."

"Naruto," the older woman barked, "what do you know of the actions being taken against this Uchiha?"

Naruto turned around to look at the woman, " I know what Sakura-chan told me, and that's that Sasuke had his chakra blocked." He turned back around.

" Is that all?"

"Yes baa-chan."

"In addition, Sasuke will be under twenty-four hour surveillance by members of the anbu black-ops, and six months of probation. His movements will be restricted to those inside the village, and he will be largely free to go where he wants within the confines of the village. Keep in mind, that this is not the normal way missing-nin are dealt with, and that I do not condone any of Sasuke's actions. You knew of all this, correct, Sakura?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama. Shizune-chan told me fairly early this morning, right after you made the decision I think."

"Neither of you have any objections?"

"What would it matter if we did, baa-chan? It's not like you'd change anything because of it. "

"True. However, it would give me piece of mind to know that both of you approve of my decision."

Sakura smiled, "It's absolutely fine Tsunade-sama. It's fair," for a brief second Sakura's face turned venomous, "not to mention I'm sure me and Naruto will teach him a few lessons, right?" Sakura looked brightly at Naruto, who smirked back, "Of course. He's underestimated us far too long, right Sakura-chan? We've got to show him how you've…we've… _improved_."

Kakashi wasn't sympathetic to Sasuke's future plight; in fact, he was going to relish witnessing the cavernous drop opening below the boy as Sakura thrust her fist into the ground. His face would probably be hilarious.

It was only what the boy deserved.

Tsunade stood up, "Well, I'll be taking my leave now, thanks. It's been a long day." She paused, " and Naruto, Sakura, pull up a chair or something. It seems at this point you may end up staying the night, no?" She gestured out the window, to the looming darkness. "Just ask the nurses for blankets, they give them out quite easily around here."

Walking towards the door, the Hokage turned around and said, "Have one of the nurses page Shizune if he wakes up. Last thing I need is to be paged in the hellish early morning, she'll be able to handle him."

"Okay Tsunade-sama, we'll do that…" Sakura was still watching Sasuke avidly; his skin looked so pale in the bright, artificial lighting of the hospital…

"The lights go out for the night in about a half an hour. Forget asking, I'll just tell the nurses to bring you some bed clothes in fifteen minutes or so, okay?"

"Yeah, okay baa-chan, thanks…"

Man, they were fixated.

"I believe I'll go on my merry way as well children," Kakashi said, " Leave you three alone, no? Some Team Seven bonding… for old time's sake."

And so, Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato were left. Yamato wasn't going anywhere, he'd stick around, page Shizune when the boy finally woke up. He doubted Naruto and Sakura would remember, they'd be caught up in the moment…

"So. You two. How are you feeling right now?"

"Fine, Yamato-taishou."

"Yeah, just fine."

So much for making conversation.

* * *

All Naruto knew was that he woke up. Apparently he had fallen asleep, and hearing the quiet snores coming from the chairs next to him, Sakura-chan had as well. He glanced over to the corner when Yamato had been. He too had fallen victim to the lull of sleep.

Naruto glanced at the clock, eleven thirty-five PM. The night was still young.

Naruto chanced a look towards the bed that held the once fugitive.

And was captured in the onyx gaze of one very awake Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

So here ends chapter one! Holy crud, it's 5:20 AM and I HAVEN'T slept, hee. I spent a lot of time typing this first chapter, so I sincerely hope someone makes an effort to review, thanks! I'm going on vacation tomorrow, but I'll be sure to type and post the new chapter right when I get back!

**I see you. Don't just press the back button. Review, review... it's not so hard right?**

**V**

**Lil' purple button, come on!  
**


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